Guide groove for staple gun

ABSTRACT

An improved joint structure for a strip concealing means which covers fasteners that hold a ceiling board in position. Angled grooves are provided in a ceiling board for receiving a strip. Between the angled grooves staples are placed to fasten the board in position and the strip is placed in the grooves to conceal the staples. A third groove is provided in the area between the angled grooves and this groove functions as a guide for a stapling gun to ensure that the staples are properly positioned.

United States Patent [191 Fritz et al.

[111 3,710,522 51 Jan. 16, 1973 [54] GUIDE GROOVE FOR STAPLE GUN [75] lnventorsi Thomas W. Fritz, East Petersburg;

Charles F. Gilbo, Lancaster; Norman A. Johnson, Lititz, all of Pa.

[73] Assignee: Armstrong Cork Company, Lancaster, Pa.

22 Filed: June16, 1971 21 Appl.No.: 153,509

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,545,154 12/1970 Bobzin ..52/47l l6 IO l5 Primary Examiner-John E. Murtagh Att0rney-Clifford B. Price [57] ABSTRACT An improved joint structure for a strip concealing means which covers fasteners that hold a cciling board in position. Angled grooves are provided in a ceiling board for receiving a strip. Between the angled grooves staples are placed to fasten the board in position and the strip is placed in the grooves to conceal the staples. A third groove is provided in the area v between the angled grooves and this groove functions as a guide for a stapling gun to ensure that the staples are properly positioned.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures 20 e is |2 Pmmmm 16 I973 3.710.522

/y /8 INVENTOR THOMAS w. FRITZ CHARLES F. GILBO V NORMAN A. JOHNSON BY (2 a v f \r ATTORNEY GUIDE GROOVE FOR STAPLE GUN CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is directed to a modification of the structure set forth in commonly assigned application Ser. No. 153,508, filed June 16, 1971, entitled Joint Construction for Ceiling Panels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention is directed to a structure for ceiling boards and, more particularly, to a joint structure with guide means for stapling.

2. Description of the Prior Art Heretofore, when a ceiling for a mobile home was assembled, large surface panels were fastened to supporting frame members. However, the exposed fasteners, such as nails, staples or rosettes have presented an unsightly appearance and have spoiled the attractiveness of the ceiling. One answer has been found in the placing of staples in a preformed groove or bevel in the panels. Since the staples, which are driven into the panels, are not always properly aligned in the bottom of the grooves, an unsightly appearance could result.

A panel assembly as shown in US. Pat. No. 3,085,301 has been tried in which a flexible strip is inserted into mating grooves in the abutting edges of the panels. The flexible strip, however, does not always move smoothly in the grooves because quite frequently the fasteners, such as staples or nails, are not properly driven into place and interfere with the forward movement of the strip. Also, the flexible strip does not provide a sturdy structure.

In U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,154, an improvement was developed wherein a rigid strip was used with a raised center area which extended over any improperly driven staples or nails. Both the above structures utilized a flange structure for the strip which has the flange structure in the same plane. The grooves for receiving the flanges were also in a common plane in the board structure.

In the above-mentioned application, there is shown an improved structure for holding the flanges of the concealing strip in position. A raised area between the grooves for the concealing strip receives the staples which are used to hold the board in place. Frequently, it was found that the staples would be improperly driven into the board because the staple gun operator was not carefully positioning the staples to secure maximum holding of the ceiling panels in place.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to a surface panel assembly in which the panel is grooved to receive rigid strips which cover the fasteners holding the board in position. The strip slides in two grooves which extend parallel to each other, but are angled relative to each other. The central area between the two grooves is raised to provide support to the center region of the strip and to provide a region for a staple guide structure which is used to guide the user of the staple gun so that he positions staples in the proper place in the ceiling board to secure the maximum fastening of the ceiling boards in position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is the showing of the board structure with the guide groove therein;

FIG. II is the cross-sectional view of the strip which is placed over the staples in the board; and

FIG. III is a cross-sectional view of the strip assembled in the board to conceal the staples.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIG. I, there is shown a cross-sectiona] view of a ceiling panel or board 2. The boards are normally 4 wide and are fastened to the ceiling rafter structure of a mobile home. The rafters of the mobile home are 16' apart. Therefore, the 4' ceiling board would be fastened at its edges to one rafter and then at two separate points in the board 16" apart. It would then be fastened along its opposite edge to the fourth adjacent rafter. If the ceiling board is being fastened to a rafter in a center portion of the board, the ceiling board would have the configuration shown in FIG. I less the dotted line structure 4. At the edge of the cei|- ing board, each edge of the ceiling board would have a configuration similar to that to the right or left of the dual dotted line structure 4. One ceiling board would have the structure to the right of the dotted line while the adjacent ceiling board would have a structure similar to that to the left of the dotted line structure. Consequently, when the two adjacent ceiling boards are placed side by side with the dotted line structure 4 representing the edge of the boards, the appearance of the joint at the edge of the boards would be the same as the appearance of the groove structure 16" in from either edge of the board.

The board is provided with a raised structure 6 into which staples are passed to fasten the ceiling board to the underlying rafter structure 8. It will be seen that these staples pass through the ceiling board 2 and grasp into the rafter 8 to hold the ceiling board in position. At a joint structure, it can be seen that one prong of each of the staples passes through an adjacent one of the boards to provide support to each of the two adjacent boards. Due to the speed at which the boards are stapled in position and the inherent carelessness that results from speed, it is often possible that these staples will be improperly positioned. To correct this problem, there is provided a groove 9 in the center portion of the raised structure 6. The staple gun which is used to drive the staples into the ceiling board will have a small pin projection and possibly even a slide structure on the stapling gun to hold the staple gun in a certain position relative to the groove 9. The operator of the staple gun merely slides the guide structure of the staple gun down the groove 9 as he staples. This ensures that the staples pass with their prongs on either side of the groove 9. In those regions where the staples are being driven in the center portion of the board, there would simply be a groove cut in the center of the raised structure 6. At a joint between two adjacent boards, the boards would be left a small distance apart, about 3/32 of an inch. This small gap between the two adjacent ceiling boards will function in the same manner as the groove 9 and will permit the staple gun to be guided along the raised area 6 to ensure a proper positioning of the staples.

The ceiling boards are provided with recessed areas having groove structures and 12 which extend parallel to each other and are inclined at a slight angle relative to each other. The angle of the grooves is at about 13 relative to the plane of the surface 6. The important feature is that the plane of each groove be such that the plane extends out beyond the surface of the board above the opposite groove. It will be noted that the line 14 which extends along the plane of the groove 10 is such that it is positioned above the upper surface of the ceiling board above the groove 12. This is a particular advantage when the board is being manufactured. A saw would be positioned in the plane of the line 14 and would cut groove 10. The waste cut out of groove 10 is thrown along the plane of the line 14 and thus is not projected into the groove 12. If the two grooves were in the same plane as shown in the above-mentioned patents, the cutting of the groove 10 would cause the saw dust generated thereby to be thrown into the adjacent groove 12 and clog up this groove with saw dust. There is then required the additional step of cleaning out the groove 12 so that the strip element can slide into the groove.

FIG. II is a showing of the strip structure 15 which is placed in the grooves 10 and 12. The strip has flanges l6 and 18 which extend into the grooves 10 and 12. The strip structure also has a central body region 20 which may be provided with a decorative surface. This structure 20 overlies the surface 6 into which the staples have been placed. This central region 20 serves the purpose of providing a decorative cover for the staples.

This strip 15 is a rigid strip. In this invention, the rigid strip must be such that it can easily be pushed along the grooves 10 and 12 and from one end of a panel to the other end. Obviously, a strip which is flexible enough to be conveniently handled on a reel cannot have the requisite rigidity and ease of placement. Obviously, the strip need not be so rigid as to permit no flexure at all for lengths of 10 to 12 feet, but it cannot be flexible such that it may be wound on a reel and bent in radii of less than 1''. While the strip may appear to have a raised area relative to the flanges l6 and 18, it must be seen that this raised area does not exist relative to the plane of the staples. As can be seen in the embodiment of FIG. Ill, the underside of the central portion 20 of the strip is closely adjacent the surface 6 into which the staples are driven. Consequently, the assembled product does not have a strip with a central raised area which is designed to pass over improperly driven staples. There would be a tendency for the strip 15 to hang up on an improperly driven staple and, therefore, the staples must be driven flush or substantially flush with the surface 6 of the ceiling board.

FIG. III of the drawing shows the assembled product with the strip 15 in position in the ceiling board 2. The flanges 16 and 18 are in the respective grooves 10 and 12. The central portion 20 closely overlies the surface 6 of the ceiling board in which the staples have been driven. Consequently, the strip 20 carefully conceals the staples from view.

The groove 9 serves the additional function of being a score line that can be used to break a 4-foot wide board into 16" sections. This means that a short section (less than 4) of ceiling may be installed in a new ceiling and if an installed ceiling has a dama ed section, a 16 section may be installed therefor rat er than the replacing of a complete 4-foot section. Finally, the groove 9 may guide the staple gun to place the staples either in or across the guide groove.

What is claimed is:

l. A surface panel assembly comprising a panel having a parallel front and rear wall surfaces and having a region into which staples may be passed to fasten the surface panel to an underlying support structure, a recessed area in the board structure on either side of the region to receive the staples, each of the recess areas having a groove which extends parallel with the groove on the opposite side of the area to receive staples, a strip with flanges positioned in each of the grooves and a center portion of the strip overlying the region to receive staples, the improvement comprising a groove in the region to receive staples, said groove extending parallel with the above-mentioned two grooves and being mid-way therebetween, said last mentioned groove functions as a means to guide a staple gun to secure the proper positioning of staples in the panel assembly. 

1. A surface panel assembly comprising a panel having a parallel front and rear wall surfaces and having a region into which staples may be passed to fasten the surface panel to an underlying support structure, a recessed area in the board structure on either side of the region to receive the staples, each of the recess areas having a groove which extends parallel with the groove on the opposite side of the area to receive staples, a strip with flanges positioned in each of the grooves and a center portion of the strip overlying the region to receive staples, the improvement comprising a groove in the region to receive staples, said groove extending parallel with the abovementioned two grooves and being mid-way thereBetween, said last mentioned groove functions as a means to guide a staple gun to secure the proper positioning of staples in the panel assembly. 